Lesser-spotted Woodpecker & summer migrants.

A late evening walk around Stanney Woods last night was rewarded with the Lesser -spotted Woodpecker drumming and calling. Knowing the Cheshire team of Pod, Gregsy, Fred & Malc were doing a bird race today I let them know and decided to check on it again this afternoon. It showed stunningly well and gave itself up to the bird racers later in the afternoon.

Great stuff! Its not often you get views of Lesser -spotted Woodpecker like this and I stood and watched it for an hour as it occasionally flew off to another tree but always returned to the same spot eventually.

A walk along the lane this morning revealed yet another Wheatear in the ploughed field whist a singing Garden Warbler was another good local bird. They're not annual round me at all. Other migrants included plenty of Common Whitethorats and a single Lesser Whitethroat along the railway embankment whilst the alarm calls of the hirundines alerted me to the presence of a raptor. I looked up in time to see a Hobby flying through towards N Wales!

Another good local bird was a singing male Yellowhammer whilst the warm weather brought the local Buzzards out in force and at one stage I had a kettle of 6 birds over my head.

Checking all my local haunts for the bird race team led me to the 'secret' lake down near the tip. A pair of Gadwall were the best birds but the reeds were alive with Reed & Sedge Warblers.